Match fixing in association football
Match fixing in association football / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The issue of match fixing in association football has been described, in 2013, by Chris Eaton, the former Head of Security of FIFA (the sport's world governing body), as a "crisis",[1] while UEFA's president Michel Platini has said that if it continues, "football is dead".[2] Zhang Jilong, president of the Asian Football Confederation, has stated that it is a "pandemic".[3] The issue also affects a number of other sports across the world.[4]
In May 2011, world governing body FIFA announced an anti-match fixing plan,[5] and in September 2012 FIFA President Sepp Blatter warned that match-fixing endangered "the integrity of the game".[6] In September 2014, the Council of Europe also announced they would tackle the problem.[7]
A number of clubs in countries across the world have been subject to match fixing, including Australia,[8][9] China,[10] and Spain.[11][12] The South African national team has also been investigated.[13]
In the 18 months prior to February 2013, Europol investigated 680 matches in 30 countries.[14] In November 2013, 11 men were charged in Estonia with fixing 17 matches.[15]
The problem is often attributed to criminal gangs based in Asia,[16][17][18] who generate "hundreds of billions of euros per year".[19]
Players who have publicly rejected bribes have been praised, such as in a case in Belize.[20]